I Could Kill Someone
If you are threatened or battered to the point where you must take out a restraining order, and then the bully or batterer violates said restraining order, you should be able to kill that son of a bitch with no threat of legal action whatsoever.
Period.
Let me be very clear – I’m all for gun control. Armor-piercing bullets and automatic weapons were never what our founding fathers had in mind when they included the right to bear arms in our constitution.
And you know it.
But I still think guns are the best form of protection. Concealed weapons are even better. You should be able to carry them, with few exceptions, everywhere you go.
If the idea of a nervous, armed citizenry scares you, then maybe the world would be a better place if we had professionals in each city willing to pull the triggers for us.
A co-worker heard me talking about this the other day and looked confused.
“Aren’t you a liberal?” he asked.
“I am.”
“What kind of liberal talks about blowing people away?”
I shrugged and made a face. A liberal like me, I suppose. I did write Olivia’s Kiss after all.
No one should live in fear and too many people do. We should do more than just act in self-defense. We should be able to kill anyone who threatens us with harm.
Let’s bring some of the Wild West back into our suburbs.
Every neighborhood watch program in this country should be able to hire Wyatt Earp wanna-bees – trained and disciplined hero-types – who would use whatever means necessary to make our streets safer.
Gun violence in this country *is* disturbing. Gun-toting thugs bother me just as much as seeing a highway full of gas-guzzling SUVs.
What’s the solution?
Well, let’s see. I won’t sacrifice my children by purchasing a compact car. If we got into an accident with a Hummer, the chances they’d walk away unharmed are slim to none. So the only option is to purchase the most fuel-efficient big ass car available. And drive carefully.
With guns, the answer is similar. You cannot use a baseball bat against someone who’s waving a pistol.
Dig?
The answer is for more *law-abiding* citizens to take classes, arm themselves, learn the proper techniques – and smoke the ass of anyone trying to disturb their peace.
Double dig?
Of course, this solution leaves me conflicted. I’ve been to a firing range and written about the mixture of adrenaline and nausea that hits when you realize something so small, something that fits right into your hand, can end a life.
But then I read about innocent women like Johanna Justin-Jinich and my blood begins to boil. How dare this weak-minded man walk into a bookstore without any fear and take her life?
Couldn’t this crime have been prevented? Why shouldn’t we be allowed to fight back, with deadly force if necessary, when someone first threatens us?
My friend Julie told me about her belligerent neighbor this weekend who threatened to use his stockpiled weapons at the slightest provocation. Most of the people on her street heard his rant and decided weekend block parties should end. No one wanted to piss him off.
That ain’t right. Instead of running, Julie’s neighbors should gather together and drive the man from his home.
Too many people are living in fear of bullies and batterers and I’m sick of it. We should fight back and that often means firing the minute we see the whites of their eyes.
Ridding the world of evil is a mitzvah. When are we going to be angry enough to start doing it?
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Catherine Durkin Robinson
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The only problem with this, that I see, is there are alot of dumbasses in this world who would not know how to handle such a responsibility. In addition, who is to say definitively what is worthy of shooting someone ? ” But, your Honor, he spit on me.” Which, by the way, one can presently be arrested for since it is considered to be assault. Crazy, I know, but true. So, that’s only where I see this plan not working. Otherwise, I’m with you, because I’ve had some instances that I would have most certainly been inclined to pistol whip someone if not put a few holes in them.
It’s funny you bring up this topic. My husband hits me up with “I am seriously thinking about getting a gun” last weekend.
We have always been “anti-gun”. Never thought it was necessary for anyone to have one. I eat meat…but I think hunting is cruel. I know…what’s the difference…the animal is dead….but I guess it’s just the way I think.
Anyhow, I was totally against it at first, but he told me that he feels that it is necessary because things aren’t the way they use to be. The criminals who break into your house are now armed. With my son in college, I am sometimes home alone.
I agreed to the gun, but only if we take lessons and learn how to use it correctly. I think you have to have respect for the gun.
My husband must have thought about it long and hard to come to this decision.
YEAH!!!!! Nobody says it better – can I get an Amen!! The bullies are the ones who get the most attention by medical providers, first in line, first serviced in a restuarant – should I go on!! I have a girlfriend who’s father always complains when he goes out to dinner so he gets his dinner for free – and NO, he is not Jewish!!!
Three burglary cases in a very short week of court here in the Boro where the only object of value taken was a gun. I occasionally have cases where someone uses a gun in self-defense, but I have lots and lots where people’s guns are stolen and used in other crimes. If you’re gonna get ‘em, make sure you know how to use ‘em; make sure you know where they are; make sure they’re locked up tight or hidden.
Wow, Kate, there is literally nothing in this post I can agree with. Nothing.
You don’t stop bullying by becoming a bigger bully and you don’t find justice down the barrel of a gun. With the most relaxed gun ownership laws in the world and, as of 2007, 90 guns per 100 people, access to firearms is definitely not the problem.
Turning neighborhoods into mini-police states or Western Frontier Towns? Jesus, really? Because mining camps were well known for their long life-expectancy, peace and order?
Seriously, Kate, what the fuck?
I’m with Quakerjoe on this. “Not enough guns” is not the problem.
Do you think that Ms. Justin-Jinich would be alive today if she had a gun? Or if everybody in that restaurant had one?
Look at the stats in this chart: http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir-death-rate-per-100-000
My state, Massachusetts, has just about the strictest gun laws in the country and just about the lowest murder rate. You can look at the rest of the chart and you know you will see the correlation between lax gun laws and high murder rate.
What do you want to bet that the gun used by Morgan came from Colorado?
You don’t end bullying by creating more bullies. You don’t stop murders by gun by having more guns.
Are you forgetting the bs we just went through with the last administration where they used fear to use the country the way they wanted to use it? Fear triumphed over common sense. You see these rare and isolated cases involving guns splashed all over the news and think, like so many did after 9-11, that you are at risk and you have to get a gun, you have to start 2 wars, you have to torture people. That you will be safer because you have a gun, started 2 wars, tortured people.
No you don’t. No you aren’t.
Bigger cars are safer for the occupants in your own car, but more likely to kill the people in the other car, too. There are other important things than car size in driving safety, though, like how you drive, not driving distracted (no eating, texting, phoning, playing with the radio), and, most importantly, how much you drive.
“Occupants of the lightest cars have dramatically higher death rates. Also, most significantly from a safety point of view, heavy pickups and SUVs are associated with far higher death rates in the OTHER vehicle than in themselves, or than death rates caused by comparably heavy cars.
SUV-to-car collisions are six times more likely to kill the occupants of the smaller vehicle when compared to a normal car-to-car collision. You may be safer inside an SUV, but you’re at greater risk of killing others in the event of an accident. ”
http://www.safecarguide.com/exp/safety/idx.htm
Which all leads to the obvious conclusion that, with SUV’s and guns, you might personally be safer with one but society is better off with fewer of them both.
Perhaps Vice President Cheney has it right that we should be able to torture bullies into submission. Besides, wouldn’t the fun last longer if you could yank a few fingernails before water boarding the assholes.
At least it’s an alternative for the first offense. It shows a bit of compassion. You’d still have your gun if the dweeb bullied a second time.
Concealed weapons? That’s for sissies. Why not just issue Uzi’s to everyone?
Or, instead of SUV’s, just buy a surplus tank. That way you would be safe in an accident plus you can blow away the neighbor down the street that scowled at you this morning without leaving your driveway. And if you get caught in a traffic jam you can just roll right over the cars in front of you.
I love the smell of knee-jerk fear based sweat in the morning. It smells like victory.
Love,
Dick Cheney
Kate, I didn’t say anything earlier, but this was one of your toughest posts yet. I am very anti-violence. I hope my husband forgets about the gun idea.
I know a woman who woke up in the middle of the night with a strange man on top of her. He was choking her and trying to remove her panties. She was going to be raped and killed. She reached into her nightstand drawer, somehow, and was able to get her gun. She pointed it in his face and pulled the trigger.
She is alive and that man is dead. That is justice. That is an endorsement.
Damn right it’s harsh. I meant it to be.
Ummm. Anyone know how to make caramel popcorn? I got me an urge.
And I know a woman who bought a gun because she didn’t feel safe in her own home or able to protect her child. Took classes, taught her kid gun safety, kept the gun in a lock box. Kid snuck the key, got the gun, showed it to his friend and shot his friend in the face.
Friend’s dead. Anecdotal evidence does not make good, rational policy because everyone’s got a damn story.